'I feel they will go the 2007 route' - Ravi Shastri thinks India would use 2007 T20 WC template ahead of T20 WC 2024

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri wants all-rounder Hardik Pandya to lead India in the next T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in 2024 in West Indies and the United States. Rohit Sharma is the designated captain of India in all three formats, however, he hasn’t played a single T20I after the T20 World Cup 2022 where India got knocked out after losing to England in the semi-final.

After the World Cup, India have played eight T20Is with Pandya leading the side in all the matches, winning five out of those, losing two, and one ending in a tie. Talking about the next T20 World Cup, Shastri said that the selectors will be looking to get into a new direction and select young talent into the squad.

"Everyone can qualify to play, but I think Hardik will lead. The next two World Cups [after the 2023 ODI World Cup] are T20 cricket. He's already [standby T20I] captain of India, so he will continue unless he is not fit. I think they [the selectors] will look into a new direction. There's a lot of talent among the youth at the moment. You might have a pretty much new team; there will be some new faces if not a new team,” Shastri was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"There will be still plenty who played in the last T20I match that India played, but there will be some new faces because what we've seen here in this year's IPL is some refreshing young talent,” Shastri added.

The 60-year-old further said that India will repeat the process of the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 where senior players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Rahul Dravid opted out of the tournament and selectors named a young squad for the marquee event. The experiment worked wonders for the team as India went on to win the 2007 T20 World Cup under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

I feel they will go the 2007 route: Ravi Shastri

"I feel they will go the 2007 route, where they will identify talent, and Hardik will have lots of choices when it comes to the selection. Because his ideas will be different; he has played the IPL as a captain of a franchise and seen a lot of the other players. He will have his inputs,” the 1983 World Cup winner said.

When asked if Hardik should have a conversation with the senior players regarding their future in the T20I team, Shastri said, "Obviously. Because he is the guy who is going to take the guys out in the park. Whatever he says has to be given importance and listened to."